Create corpus fund for Mahakumbh: Akhilesh to govt

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has said the central and the state governments should come together to create a corpus fund of ₹2 lakh crore for organising Mahakumbh. He also said there should be permanent infrastructure for the mega event.

In a statement issued on Monday, he said: “Mahakumbh is a religious event of faith of sadhus, religious leaders and common people. However, the BJP government made it a political event but failed in organising it smoothly. Neither could it manage the crowd or traffic nor could it provide clean water for bathing.”

“The report of Central Pollution Control Board and NGT regarding Ganga water in Sangam is a document of the failure of the BJP government,” Yadav alleged.

“There is a need to develop permanent and basic infrastructure for organising Kumbh. The central and the state governments should together create a corpus fund of ₹two lakh crore for it,” he demanded.

“In it, the contribution of both the governments should be ₹one lakh crore each so that permanent infrastructure can be made using ₹one lakh crore. The remaining ₹one lakh crore should be used in developing transport system and facilities for poor devotees,” Yadav said.

Moreover, he reiterated his demand to extend Mahakumbh that will conclude with the last bathing festival of Mahashivratri on Wednesday (February 26).